The hostage-ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza was front and center not just on the news, but also on Eretz Nehederet (Wonderful Country), Israel’s popular sketch comedy show which airs on the Keshet network, on Wednesday night, as it spoofed US President Elect Donald Trump (Omer Etzion), who made a brief appearance, boasting that, “It was me, it was me, it was me” who sealed the hostage deal and not “sleepy Joe Biden.”
After holding up a photo that he said showed pro-Palestinian model Bella Hadid’s burned house in Los Angeles, which host Eyal Kitzis said was actually a picture of Gaza, Trump responded to the host’s question about how he got Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Mariano Idelman) to agree to a ceasefire.
“Bibi and me have a long relationship of give and take. I give orders, he takes them,” said Trump.
A flustered Netanyahu reminded Trump that he had promised to help Israel defeat its worst enemy.
“Oh, sure. There’s gonna be hell to pay, Greenland!” said Trump, referencing a country he has said he hopes to buy and annex to the US.
Bibi interrupted, saying Trump must mean Iran, but Kitzis brought up Trump’s unexpected bid to take over Greenland.
“Yeah, from the kotev [Hebrew for pole, as in North Pole] to the sea, Greenland will belong to me,” Trump said. “It will be the biggest golf course in the world. I’m a great golfer. I’m the best golfer in the universe… After Greenland, we’re gonna take over Canada. Then Panama Canal. After that, maybe Mexico. Maybe China. I like saying China.”
Bibi asked what about Gaza, to which Trump replied, “Bibi, I’m tired of your silly wars. It needs to end.”
Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich (Gaya Be'er Gurevich), who has expressed opposition to the deal and whose English is not his strongest suit, to put it mildly, jumped in saying, in Hebrew, “What did he say? End the war?” But the next US president wasn’t having it, and yelled, “Shut the f*** up, Smotrich.”
Bibi took advantage of Smotrich’s English problem, telling him Trump hadn’t said “end” but “and,” and that Trump meant the war would go on and on.
Trump responded, “OK, I’ve got to go back to the USA and get ready for my inauguration. Bibi, you can always call me at my new number, 555-2020,” an obviously fake number, because there are no American phone numbers with 555. Mixing English and Hebrew, Trump told him, “Don’t come to me in my dreams.”
Sketch spotlighted Trump's 'erratic' behavior
The sketch, pointing to Trump’s involvement in securing the current deal but also spotlighting the incoming president’s erratic behavior, drew applause and even cheers.
The rest of the show focused on poking fun at domestic Israeli politics and Eurovision, and included a bitter opening skit in which Netanyahu and an advisor joked about how they could have brought the hostages home months ago but then the government would have fallen and, “We would have had to go home.” The prime minister boasted proudly about saving the jobs of his 60-plus coalition members.
At the end of the program, Kitzis signed off saying that the show would return in two weeks, by which time, he hoped that “our brothers and sisters” – the hostages -- would have returned home, and that Israel would again be “a wonderful country.”